Harry Potter and the Princess of Darkness
by mrsmalfoy28
Summary: A new year at Hogwarts has begun and Hermione's new sister, Maria, has recieved an acceptance letter to Hogwarts, and stranger and more mysterious things are happening that even smart Hermione can't explain. Yay Chapter Nine and Ten are here! R&R please!
1. Prologue

Prologue

Ever since she was a baby, Maria Thompson had more tragic events occur in her life then many adults in their whole lifetime. At the young and impressionable age of two, Maria had her parent's stolen from her in an unexplainable way. No doctor's within the area could possibly understand how the Thompson's had died. They simply passed off their death's as too much stress, since Maria had been causing them to work later hours and on weekends.

Maria's nanny at the time, Katherine, had Maria in one arm and all of her belongings in the other as she searched for the house key to the Thompson's house the night that they had died. She was told to just go right in whenever she returned to their home because Richard and Vivian Thompson could not be bothered if they were in the middle of important lawyer work. So, Katherine, following the Thompson's order's, had retrieved the key and slid it into the lock; she reached for the handle and pulled it open, and the first sight that met her eyes caused her to scream in terror. Katherine continued screaming until a neighbor came by and witnessed the same scene that Katherine had just witnessed. The neighbor, with a saner head then Katherine had, called the police immediately and a few hours later they left without a clue as to what happened to Richard and Vivian Thompson. Katherine explained several times from several different angles what had happened.

"I walked into the house with Maria because it was time that she came home, and when I stepped in Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were just sprawled on the floor. There was no blood, no sign of struggle, nothing. I just knew that they weren't alive."

Katherine was shaky and terrified as the police instructed her to go home. However, Maria's situation would be more difficult. She had no other relatives, none whatsoever. So, the only suitable decision was to take Maria to the orphanage. And that was where she stayed for a full eight years of her life.

In those years, Maria had been shifted back and forth between several foster homes, but families kept claiming that strange things always happened when Maria was in their presence, and they were all so bewildered by theses strange occurrences that none would keep Maria for a long period of time.

However, after eight years of home shifting, Maria had grown quite used to the fact that she may never have a proper home. Until the month of December, that is.


	2. A New Home

A New Home

            Mark and Elizabeth Granger sat comfortable around they're fireplace, awaiting the arrival of December.

            Mark glanced at his watch. "It's 11:59, dear." He told his wife.

            Elizabeth's favorite month was December, because it was the arrival of a wonderful and joyous holiday: Christmas. She would be sad to see November leave, but with the prospect of an even better month, she had much to look forward to for December.

            However, the last few Christmas's hadn't been as great as they should have been. Mark and Elizabeth's daughter, Hermione, was never present for Christmas anymore. They weren't necessarily complaining; they were so proud of their fifteen-year-old daughter. Hermione had been accepted into a very different school five years ago: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The Granger's had no idea that their only daughter was a witch, but were very pleased to find out that she was. They were also pleased to know that Hermione had finally made two wonderful friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. However, Hermione's friends came at a price for the Granger's; she would no longer return home for the Christmas holidays because of her friends. The Granger's understood, but it was still depressing having to sit through a white Christmas in silence, without having their daughter hover over every present, anxiously awaiting the moment she could finally open them.

            _Beep, Beep!_

"Midnight!" Mark declared. "What would you like for Christmas, dear?"

            Elizabeth smiled. It was traditional that Mark and Elizabeth shared with each other what they wanted more than anything at the start of December.

            "Honey, you may freak out, but I've been thinking about this a lot and what I want more than anything is another child."

            She waited apprehensively for Mark to explode, to start reasoning with her to look at this situation rationally; but no yelling or reasoning occurred. She risked a glance up at him and saw that a smile had flickered across his handsome face.

            "I've been thinking the same thing." Mark answered. "But don't you think that we're too old-"

            "Oh, no." Elizabeth said. "I don't mean that the two of us have a baby. I was thinking about adoption."

            "Elizabeth that is a wonderful idea!" Mark exclaimed. "Just brilliant. Tomorrow we will call the local adoption agency and see what they can do for us."

            "That's exactly what I wanted." Elizabeth smiled. She walked up to Mark, gave him a sweet kiss and headed off to bed, awaiting the next day.

The Next Day… 

            "Get up, Maria!" Called an angry voice.

            Maria's eyes opened slightly, enough for her to see a fuming face staring down at her. Becky, an older girl who shared the room with her and several other orphan girls, stared menacingly into her face.

            "How many times do I have to tell you to get up? I call and I call but I receive no answer. Honestly, I almost thought you were dead. Now get up! There is a new family coming today interested in adopting. Take a shower or something." Becky instructed.

            Maria shut her eyes again. She couldn't see the point; several families had come and gone, but none long enough to learn to love Maria. At the age of ten, she was beginning to realize that her chances of being adopted were slowly decreasing, because it was a well-known fact that most families wanted babies, not grown children.

After everyone in her room started poking her and ordering her to get up, she finally caved and stepped out of bed. She refused to shower, so Becky settled for her dressing in a cute yellow jumper and a pair of pretty pink pants.

The girls all had to wait, because the orphanage had to speak with the family, make sure their record was clean, that sort of thing. However, their waiting did not pass in silence.

"Do you think they're nice?" a nine-year-old girl named Gloria asked, cautiously.

"They're all nice at first." Said Wendy, her voice full of bitterness. Wendy was seventeen and had been to fewer homes then Maria, but still plenty enough for her to lose complete hope.

Maria stayed silent during the girls' conversation. She had secretly been hoping that this would be the family to take her home and away from this place forever. Even though her chances were slim, she still planned on having her fingers tightly crossed in her pant pockets when the time came to meet the family.

And speaking of that time…

"Can I please have all of the girls from the ages of five to ten follow me?" came the voice of their social worker, Mrs. Redden. Maria's eyes opened widely. This family wanted an older child. She quickly smoothed out the creases in her pants as she followed Gloria, Amy, Karrie, Sabrina and Colleen out of the room, leaving Wendy behind with a look that said _It figures _on her sad, lonely face.

Maria followed her friends and Mrs. Redden into the main room, where a nice looking couple stood, smiling welcomingly at each of the girls in turn.

"Everyone, this is Mark and Elizabeth Granger. They are interested in adopting as soon as possible.

Elizabeth's gaze had not left Maria since she laid eyes on her. Mark seemed to have noticed.

"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Granger, would you like to-" Mrs. Redden began.

But Mark interrupted her.

"Mrs. Redden, do you mind if we talk to that little girl right there?" Mark requested. He was pointing directly at Maria.

Maria swung around to look behind her, expecting to see a prettier, younger girl then her standing there. When she saw no one, her eyes opened widely once more, and she glanced around at her friends.

"Go on." Gloria whispered, smiling rather disappointedly, but still happy for Maria.

Maria nodded slightly, but enough for Mark to notice. The Granger's beamed at her and took her aside as Mrs. Redden led the rest of the girls back to their room.

"So, what's your name?" Elizabeth asked, still smiling.

"Maria Thompson." Maria answered, rather shyly.

"Wow, my sister's name is Maria." Mark said, conversationally.

Maria smiled. _This must be a sign! _She thought.

The Granger's talked to Maria for what seemed like hours about everything, from school to her favorite food.

When Mrs. Redden arrived, Mark and Elizabeth had come to an unspoken agreement about their decision.

"Mrs. Redden, we would like to adopt Maria, if that's all right with you." Mark said, glancing towards Maria.

Maria's face lit up as though she was a Christmas tree; she felt so happy that she could hardly believe it was real. She nodded her head to show that it was definitely all right with her.

"Wonderful!" Mrs. Redden declared. "There's still much paperwork and such to be done, but you can come back and pick her up on December the 24th, if all of the paperwork goes through.

"Excellent!" Elizabeth exclaimed. She kneeled down to where Maria was sitting and gave her a big hug. "We'll come visit, and on Christmas Eve we'll be back to get you for good."

Everyone in the room was smiling with a happy sensation in the pit of their stomach, but Maria felt that none could be happier than she was right now.

Maria believed that Christmas Eve could not come soon enough. She had several visits from Mark and Elizabeth, and the more they visited, the more Maria liked them.

The night before Christmas Eve, Maria had said her formal goodbyes to all of her friends. She felt saddened to leave them, but with the prospect of a better life waiting for her the next day, she did not completely fall apart.

The next day, Mark and Elizabeth arrived prompt at seven o' clock, extremely anxious and gleeful about finally taking Maria home. Maria emerged into the main room to see her new parents smiling widely. Elizabeth was carrying a present.

"What's that for?" Maria inquired.

"It's Christmas Eve!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "You get one present on Christmas Eve. It's tradition."

Maria felt overjoyed. She had never received a proper present before, and she felt ecstatic as she began to rip of the paper from the small package in her hand. The package revealed a small, beautiful diary; the cover was a midnight blue color, and Maria's name was scrawled across it in fancy, gold writing.

She smiled, trying to refrain from letting the tears welling up in her eyes escape.

"It's brilliant." Maria said, full of gratitude.

"It's for you to record everything now that you have a brand new life." Mark smiled. The family hugged, and together walked out of the orphanage, into Maria's wonderful new life.


	3. Sisters and Owls

Sisters and Owls

Christmas passed by quickly, as did the months following. Maria discovered several things about her new family in this time; she uncovered that the Granger's already had a daughter, a fifteen-year-old girl named Hermione. Maria had an older sister! It was just unbelievable. Mark and Elizabeth told Maria that they were deciding to wait until Hermione returned home from school to tell her that she had a new sister, just so they could tell her face-to-face. They honestly had no idea of how Hermione might react, but they knew that she is a brilliant, levelheaded girl, and hopefully she will accept Maria into the family with a wide smile, instead of loathing her from the start.

The end of June arrived quickly. Maria had gone through half of fifth grade and emerged from it with top marks.

_Just like our Hermione. _Elizabeth thought, smiling.

The next day, July 1st, the Granger's would have to drive to Kings Cross Station to retrieve Hermione from the Hogwarts Express arriving at Platform Nine and Three Quarters prompt at three o' clock.

Maria was nervous and excited at the same time; she could not wait to finally meet her older sister. She had seen pictures of course. Hermione had bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth, and Maria found this quite strange, because she also had these features.

At two o' clock, the Grangers and Maria left the house and set out for Kings Cross Station. The day was hot and sticky, but the sun shone brightly over all of London, so Maria wasn't complaining.

As they arrived at the train station, Maria slipped her hand into Elizabeth's; they both seemed to be squeezing rather tighter then necessary, which were signs for each other that they were both extremely nervous.

Maria had never been to the train station before, so she was fascinated at seeing all the trains pulling in and amazed at all the busy people getting on or off the trains. Elizabeth had informed her that they were picking up Hermione at Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but as Maria drew closer and glanced at Platform Nine, then at Platform Ten, she realized that Platform Nine and Three Quarters was nonexistent.

"Um, Elizabeth-" Maria started to question.

However, Elizabeth quickly interrupted by pointing out Hermione. "Oh, look! There she is!"

Maria turned to look. She was bewildered; within the two seconds that she looked away, a large group of kids ranging from what looked like eleven years old to seventeen years old emerged from out of nowhere. It was like magic; one minute they weren't there, the next they were.

Maria noticed Hermione right away. She was much prettier in person then in the pictures; she had definitely grown over the year she had been gone. A plump, red-haired woman hugged Hermione, and then Hermione hugged a red-haired boy that looked just like the woman's son. There were three other red-haired children, a set of twins and a girl. Next, Hermione hugged a boy with black hair and a strange looking cut on his forehead. Maria suddenly noticed that the group was much bigger; along with the red-haired family, the black-haired boy and Hermione, there was also a group of adults. One woman with bright, bubblegum colored hair, a tired looking man and a man with a bowler hat pulled over his head, as though he were trying to hide something. The group walked over to a modern, traditional-looking family; a very large man with an even larger son and the man's wife, a skinny woman with an judgmental look upon her face. After the adults had all exchanged a few words, Hermione hugged the black-haired boy one more time and finally walked towards her family, smiling and waving.

As she drew nearer, she caught a glimpse of Maria. Her face fell slightly; it was replaced not by an angry face, but a face full of curiousity.

"Hi, mum." Hermione greeted, hugging her mother. "Dad." She said, walking over to her father and hugging him as well.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, politely.

"Um, Hermione, take a seat." Elizabeth offered, directing her hand towards an empty bench in the station. Hermione sat down apprehensively.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked again.

"My name is Maria." Maria introduced.

"Honey, we adopted Maria." Elizabeth explained, holding hands with Mark.

"You have a new sister!" Mark declared.

"Wow! No way! This is totally unbelievable! When did this happen? Why did you tell me so late? Does she live with us? How old is she?" Hermione was exploding with questions, but the huge grin on her face told the Grangers that she was okay with the news.

"Well, it happened during Christmas, and we wanted to tell you to your face. And of course she lives with us!" Mark explained.

"And I'm ten." Maria interjected, answering Hermione's last question.

"Wow, a sister!" Hermione scrambled over to Maria and gave her a big hug. "I've always wanted a sister."

So, the Granger family left for home to enjoy the rest of the summer, all of them in high spirits.

However, the spirits could not be any lower during the first month of summer. Maria could not explain why, but she did not dare ask; she did not want the Grangers thinking that she was nosy, and she certainly did not want to be sent back to the orphanage.

Mark, Elizabeth, and Hermione's spirits were brought down because of the news Hermione had brought home. The Grangers already knew about Lord Voldemort, the most feared wizard of all time, and they knew that he had returned last year, but so many things had happened during Hermione's fifth year that they were just astonished at what she had accomplished and terrified of what the future may hold.

"Do you think it's safe for you to return to Hogwarts?" Mark inquired, in a voice that sounded as though he would definitely prefer she not.

"Dad, you know Professor Dumbledore is the only wizard that You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. As long as I am under his protection, nothing will happen to me. I'm just really upset for Harry." Hermione said, sympathetically.

"Losing the only family he has." Elizabeth said, shaking her head.

"He has his aunt and uncle." Mark replied.

"Ho!" Hermione muttered. "I'm sure Harry would rather have no relatives then have them."

At that moment, Maria walked into the kitchen.

"Hello." She said.

"Hi, honey." Elizabeth greeted, warmly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Maria asked casually, buttering a piece of bread.

"Oh, nothing. Just Hermione's year at school." Mark said, smiling.

There conversation was over, for now. Hermione thought it best that Maria not know about the wizarding world, and the Grangers agreed. It was something that the Ministry of Magic approved of. Of course, they could tell Maria without getting into trouble, but Hermione just believed that for the time being it was not necessary. Maria was too young; she'd want to learn magic and have fits that she couldn't go to Hogwarts.

As the summer progressed, Hermione and Maria got much closer. Hermione told Maria all about Harry and Ron, her two best friends, and Maria told Hermione all about what it's like to live in an orphanage.

Hermione kept in contact with Harry and Ron all summer. She had sent Harry words of wisdom, comforting thoughts and a listening ear if he ever needed it. Harry was grateful, but just could not get over the fact that his godfather, Sirius, had died. Hermione knew he wanted revenge, and she had the feeling that her attempts at trying to tell him that revenge won't do anything good were going unnoticed.

Maria was flabbergasted by all of the owls that appeared swooping around the house. She was unaware that they were bringing mail to her older sister; she just thought that this was a very owl-infested area. Never seeing an owl before she came to live with the Grangers, she thought that these birds were amazing to watch.

Other then the anxiety in the house of Hermione and her parents waiting for any type of news about Lord Voldemort, things were going great. Hermione loved her younger sister, and loved teaching her everything she knows about everything, since Hermione is very smart. She was preparing Maria for sixth grade, even though Maria was already above the student average.

However, this training became unnecessary because of an occurrence that happened on the 31st of July.

Mark, Elizabeth, Hermione and Maria were all sitting down, enjoying their breakfast on an early Saturday morning, when an owl appeared right outside the window.

Maria gasped. "Look at what that owl is doing! I think it's trying to get in!"

Hermione and her parents shared a look as Hermione walked over to the window and let the owl in. Hermione's cat, Crookshanks, eyed it suspiciously, as though looking for an early morning snack.

"You're letting it in?" Maria cried, quickly pushing her chair back from the table, as far away from the window as possible.

"It's just an owl." Hermione teased. Elizabeth walked over to the counter and filled a bowl with water. After Hermione finished untying the letter from the owl's leg, it scurried over and began drinking from the bowl of water gratefully.

Hermione looked at the letter and noticed right away that it was from Hogwarts; she could never miss the purple Hogwarts seal on the back of the envelope. However, the letter seemed much thicker than usual. Hermione's questioning to this though was answered immediately.

"Why are there two letters?" Mark inquired.

Hermione flipped the letters over. The first letter was addressed to Ms. Hermione Granger, but the second was addressed to none other than-

"Ms. Maria Thompson?" Hermione asked the letter, curiously. Then it dawned on her. "Oh my gosh! Mom, dad, Maria's been accepted into Hogwarts!"

Elizabeth looked as though she were about to faint. Mark smiled broadly at the thought that both of his daughters are witches, but Maria looked dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, but where am I accepted to?" Maria asked.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! It's my school!" Hermione answered, bouncing up and down with joy and hugging Maria continuously. She was being swarmed with hugs from her sister, her new mom and her new dad.

All of these hugs seemed to make her a bit lightheaded, but after awhile she suddenly realized something.

"Did you just say Hogwarts School of _Witchcraft and Wizardry_?" Maria asked, totally confused.

"Maria, we never told you this, but Hermione is a witch." Elizabeth explained, smiling so much she looked as though her face were stuck that way.

"Do you really think you should call you daughter such names?" Maria asked, her eyebrow raised.

"No, no, no." Mark countered. "She's an actual witch! Hermione's been going to this school for the past five years learning magic."

Hermione's grin broadened.

"This is a stupid joke isn't it? Haha, you guys got me! That's really clever of you, all of you." Maria felt a bit saddened that her new family would be playing a prank on her.

"No, really!" Hermione said, rather dejectedly because her sister believed that she was lying to her. Hermione handed Maria her letter.

            Maria took it, still disbelievingly, and opened the purple seal on the back. She took out a letter and began to read:

_Dear Ms. Thompson,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Maria's eyes widened in shock. The letter looked genuine. She was lost for words.

            "But… but… but I'm not a _witch_." Maria stuttered.

            "Apparently you are!" Hermione squealed, very excited. "Wow, and your parents were muggles, too."

            "Excuse me?" Maria retorted, angrily.

            "Oh, it means people who do not have magic in their blood." Hermione explained. "But I was accepted into Hogwarts when no one in my family are magical, and now you are, too!"

            Maria smiled, amazed at what was happening. First, she found out she would be going to a family, finally. Next, she discovers that she is a witch! She will be going to a school that practices magic along with her older sister whom she simply adores.

            Looking at things now, Maria realized that she could not be any happier than she  is right now.


	4. Visiting the Burrow

Visiting the Burrow

Hermione had written Harry and Ron to tell them about Maria's acceptance to Hogwarts. For two weeks following their letters, Hermione taught Maria everything she knew. She couldn't teach her anything practically, because magic was not allowed during the holidays and Maria didn't even have a wand. But Hermione and Maria went through all of Hermione's books, so Maria felt a bit more prepared for the magical world.

Two weeks before the first of September, Ron had sent Hermione an owl.

_Hey, Hermione!_

_            This is awesome! First you get a sister, then she gets to come to Hogwarts with us! Mom wanted to know if you and your sister wanted to come to Diagon Alley tomorrow, then go back to the Burrow with us for the rest of the holiday. Harry's already coming, so we're just waiting for word from you! Maria can come to the Burrow, too. _

_Hope to hear from you soon, _

_Ron_

_P.S. Ginny made prefect! Mom's freaking out again. _

            "Congratulation's, Ginny." Hermione said under her breathe, smiling. Hermione could just see Mrs. Weasley fussing all over Ginny, asking her what she wants for accomplishing something so miraculous.

            "Who's Ginny?" Maria asked.

            They were reading _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot, which was on Maria's list of school books.

            "Ginny is Ron's younger sister." Hermione explained. She turned to her parents. "Mom, dad, do you mind if we can all go to Dagon Alley tomorrow to get our school things, then maybe spend the rest of the holiday at the Burrow?"

            Elizabeth stopped washing the dishes and Mark stopped reading the newspaper. They both turned around to Hermione. They didn't want both of their daughter's leaving, but they knew that was what Hermione wanted to do, so they didn't argue.

            "Of course you can." Elizabeth said. Mark smiled, then went back to reading the newspaper.

            "The Burrow?" Maria inquired.

            "Oh, that's where Ron lives. Do you want to come?"

            "Definitely!" Maria said, grinning. A magic house! How cool would that be?

            Maria could not wait for the next day, and it certainly came quick enough. Hermione and Maria had packed up all of their belongings so that they were ready to leave for the Burrow right away after they retrieved their things.

            Mark and Elizabeth drove them straight to Diagon Alley, and it didn't take them long before they found Ron and Harry, or rather, Ron and Harry found them.

            "Hermione!" A voice called.

               Hermione spun around, and there she saw Ron, Harry, and Ginny all running towards her. She smiled as one by one they all hugged her, and also introduced themselves to Maria.

               Maria felt extremely young. After all, she was only entering her first year, and Hermione's friends were all in their fifth and sixth years. Mrs. Weasley had probably told Ron to invite her because she felt sorry for poor, young Maria.

            However, Maria did not show any signs of the thoughts that were running through her head; on the contrary, she smiled and tried to jump into the conversations as the five of them headed onwards towards the heart of Diagon Alley, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley chatting to Mr. and Mrs. Granger a few feet behind them.

            Once Maria had retrieved almost everything on her list, she came to the last item: a wand.

            "Oh, I still need my wand." Maria stated, stopping abruptly.

            "Do you want me to come with you?" Hermione offered, kindly. Since they all had their wands, they had no need to visit Ollivanders.

"No, it's fine." Maria said, ushering Hermione to go ahead. "You go on, I'll go by myself."

"Okay." Hermione said, rather apprehensively. So, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the adults all headed towards the Leaky Cauldron while Maria made a sharp left towards Ollivanders.

"Hello?" She called as she entered the musty old shop. The rows of long, thin boxes lined the shelves, dusty and dirty but giving off an aura of light magic. Maria smiled, extremely excited at what she was about to receive.

"Hello, dear." Said a voice deep within the rows of boxes. The voice emerged as a silhouette, but as the person came into the light Maria realized that he was just an old man.

"Oh, Maria Thompson. I think I know just the wand for you." Mr. Ollivander said, quickly turning and going back into the eeriness of the shelves.

Maria, dumbfounded at the fact that Mr. Ollivander knew her name, thought it best not to ask how he knew and just wait until he returned with a suitable wand.

"Here we go. Eight and a half inches, maple and dragon heartstring."

Maria gave the wand a quick wave, just like she saw in the movies. She wondered if she should say _hocus pocus _or _abra kadabra_, but was saved by the choice when the wand sent a light, warm feeling through Maria's body to the tip of her fingers.

Mr. Ollivander grinned broadly. "Perfect! Now let me get this packaged up for you and you can be on your way."

Maria left Ollivanders five minutes later with her eight and a half inch wand. She unpackaged it quickly and stuck it inside her pocket, just as she had seen Hermione do with her own wand. Maria was aware that she is not allowed to do magic outside of school, but since hearing the terrifying tale of Lord Voldemort, she felt that it would be best to be armed at all times, even if she did not know one ounce of magic.

Maria headed straight for the Leaky Cauldron, and she spotted her party right away.

"Got your wand?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"Yup." Maria said.

"Are you ready to go back to the Burrow?" Mrs. Weasley asked, kindly.

"Sure." Maria replied.

"Okay, let's go." Ron said, leaping up and gathering together all of his purchases.

Mark and Elizabeth took Hermione and Maria aside.

"We're going to miss you two." Mark said.

Elizabeth had tears gleaming in her eyes. She believed that having another child would be great, because she would be around all the time. However, since the Hogwarts letter, Elizabeth's dream was shattered. She was extremely proud of Maria, but just a tad disappointed for her own selfish reasons.

"Bye Hermione." Elizabeth said, giving her eldest daughter a tight hug. She did the same to Maria. The girls took turns hugging their father, before he gave them a couple words of wisdom.

"Just be careful." Mark advised. "You know what's going on out there in your world, and it sounds dangerous. If there is any sign of danger, I hope that you'll come straight home."

"Sure, dad." Hermione said, rolling her eyes. If there was any danger, Hermione would be standing beside Harry and Ron fighting it, not running from it.

Maria had silent tears rolling down her cheeks; she had just gained a family and now she would have to leave them. However, the prospect ahead of her was so amazingly unreal that she could not just turn away from it.

"Bye!" Everyone waved as Mark and Elizabeth left the Leaky Cauldron, only to go back into the muggle world.

"Okay, let's go by Floo Powder." Mrs. Weasley instructed.

Maria's eyes widened, but she did not want to ask what Floo Powder was. Instead, she settled on watching everyone else and she would just do what they do.

Ron took a handful of powder that Mrs. Weasley obtained from her purse, walked into the Leaky Cauldron fireplace, called out "The Burrow!" and disappeared into the great, emerald flames.

Maria's eyes widened even more, but it didn't look too difficult, so she tried not to be too panicky.

Once Harry and Ginny had disappeared through the fireplace, Hermione bend over so she was almost level with Maria.

"Do you think you can do this?" She asked.

Maria took a deep breath, and nodded. So, she walked up to Mrs. Weasley, who was smiling kindly at her, and took a handful of the Floo Powder.

Mrs. Weasley and Hermione began telling her all sorts of tips, like speak clearly, and Maria tried to take all of these into consideration as she closed her eyes, threw down the powder and roared, "The Burrow!" Suddenly, she had been thrown out of the fireplace from the Leaky Cauldron and emerged out of the fireplace of what appeared to be the Burrow. Harry, Ron, and Ginny all sat watching Maria appear, grinning.

"Good job!" They all praised.

"The first time I traveled by Floo Powder, I turned up in Knockturn Alley, a really dodgy place." Harry confided, blushing a bit.

Maria laughed. "So I suppose I should be proud then."

"Definitely." Ginny nodded. "Harry was lucky that Hagrid turned up, or something could have happened to him."

Ginny and Harry shared a meaningful look; Ginny looked scared at the thought that anything could happen to Harry, and Harry looked appreciative that Ginny seemed to care.

Maria thought that she sensed something between the two of them. "Are you guys dating?" She asked.

"Of course they're not!" Ron exclaimed. "Humph, my best friend and my sister. How gross is that?"

Harry and Ginny laughed uneasily; obviously they did want to rule out the possibility that they may eventually get together.

Ron, however, did not notice this uneasiness; he was too busy laughing himself silly at the thought of Harry and Ginny dating. He was laughing so much that he did not even see Hermione and Mrs. Weasley emerge from the fireplace.

Maria cautiously looked around. This house was amazing; dishes that washed themselves and clocks that didn't tell time, but the location of the Weasley children instead. There were endless magical objects in every direction.

The clock had drawn Maria's attention, though.

"Who are all these people?" She asked, indicating the nine hands on the clock.

"Well, those three there are Ginny, mum, and myself." Ron teased.

Maria blushed, embarrassed. "What about the rest?"

"The twins are my older brothers, Fred and George." Ginny explained. "They're both seventeen and just left Hogwarts. They own a joke shop now."

Ron grinned. Then he turned back to the clock. "That one there is Charlie; he's the oldest. He's studying dragons in Romania."

"That there is Bill." Ginny pointed to a handsome, redheaded man with a long ponytail. "He works for Gringotts Bank."

"That's Mr. Weasley, or Arthur." Mrs. Weasley said, fondly pointing at her husband, whose hand was pointed at _Work. _

"And who is that?" Maria asked, pointing at a nerdy looking boy wearing horn-rimmed glasses and an expression of utmost dislike towards all of the people staring at him upon his face.

Mrs. Weasley pursed her lips, then muttered some excuse about having to wash Ginny's robes so she could escape the tense kitchen.

"That's Percy." Ron explained. "He kind of left the family. He's very ambitious; apparently the Ministry of Magic is more important to him than his family. He abandoned us."

"That's horrible." Maria said, sympathetically. She thought Percy was rather stupid; he had a wonderful family like the Weasley's, and he abandoned them because of work.

"You guys want to play Quidditch?" Ron asked, trying to avoid the subject of Percy.

"Yeah!" Harry said, excitedly.

"Okay." Ginny agreed; she looked as though she only agreed because Harry did.

"Oh, I suppose. Harry, can Maria have a ride on your broomstick?" Hermione asked.

"Sure." Harry said, kindly.

"Wow, a broomstick! Just like the movies!" Maria cried.

"What's a movie?" Ginny inquired.

"Pardon me? What's a _movie?_" Maria replied, astonished that Ginny did not know this.

"Never mind, Ginny." Hermione laughed. "Just some muggle entertainment."

"Ah." Ginny said as she followed Ron and Harry out to the backyard for an afternoon of Quidditch.


	5. Welcome to the Hogwarts Express

Welcome to the Hogwarts Express

The Burrow was a lot of fun; everyone treated Maria like she had been a friend for ages. Mrs. Weasley was very motherly, as though she was making up for all the years that Maria had never had a mother.

The end of summer quickly approached, and before they knew it they were being herded to Kings Cross station to aboard the Hogwarts Express.

"Everyone ready?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

They all nodded.

"Now, all you have to do is run straight for it." Hermione directed, indicating the barrier.

"Excuse me?" Maria asked, astounded that Hermione had just told her to run into a wall.

"Just run for it!" Hermione said as Ron and Harry headed towards the barrier and just slipped right through it.

Maria, mouth wide open, watched as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley went next.

"Now, are you ready?" Hermione asked Maria.

"Yes." Maria said.

"Okay then, let's go!"

They ran for the barrier; Maria kept envisioning herself as a human pancake being flattened by the magical barrier.

She shut her eyes tightly, but was shocked when she emerged on the other side of the barrier into Platform Nine and Three Quarters, where a scarlet steam engine stood, boarding passengers that were also on their way to Hogwarts.

"I've made you all sandwiches!" Mrs. Weasley said, distributing the food and saying goodbye to everyone in turn. When she reached Maria, she hugged her and wished her luck for her first year. Maria was grateful, and waved goodbye like everyone else as she finally boarded the train.

"Maria," Hermione began, "Ron, Ginny and myself have to go to the front of the train, because we are prefects."

At this, Ron puffed out his chest, importantly.

"Do you think you'll be okay by yourself?" Hermione asked, worriedly.

"I'll be fine." Maria reassured; she was a bit nervous and wished that Hermione would stay with her, but she knew Hermione had her duties.

"Okay then, we'll come check on you later." They all turned and headed towards the front of the train.

Harry was pulled away by a group of boys who looked around his age, leaving Maria standing alone in the corridor. Students were pushing their way through trying to find a compartment, and Maria felt she better do the same.

Nothing was empty, so she settled with a compartment near the end of the train with three timid-looking girls about her age occupying it.

"Do you mind if I sit?" Maria asked, cautiously.

They all shook their heads, so Maria sat down.

"Hi, I'm Maria Thompson. Is this your first year?"

They all nodded.

A girl with short, brown hair spoke first.

"My name is Faye Matthias."  She introduced herself. "I am so nervous!"

"Me too."  Spoke a girl with curly, blond pigtails. "My name is Shelly Abbott. I have an older sister who goes here. She is in her fifth year. A Hufflepuff."

Shelly looked proud.

"My sister is in her fifth year, too." Maria said. "But she is a Gryffindor."

Hermione had explained about the four different houses. Maria had her fingers crossed that she would be in Gryffindor with her sister, or else anywhere but Slytherin.

The last girl had her nose stuck up in the air. She gazed longingly out of the window, as though she did not want to be on the train. Her long, white-blond hair glimmered from the sunlight hanging over the train, and she would have looking nice if she didn't have such a foul expression on her face.

"What's your name?" Maria asked. She thought this girl was rather rude, but decided not to comment; this was not the time to make enemies.

The girl ignored her.

"Um, hello?" Faye questioned.

She turned and glanced at Faye, a look of loathing on her face.

"What?" She asked, as though she was being disturbed while in the middle of something very important.

"What's your name?" Maria asked again, kinder this time.

"My name is Drucilla Delaney, and I'd appreciate not being disturbed again, thank you." With that, she continued to gaze out of the window.

Faye raised her eyebrow, about to say something, but thought better of it.

"So, what are your parents?" Faye asked Maria.

It took Maria a few seconds to understand what she meant before she answered, "They were both muggles. But they died, and now the family that I'm living with now are also muggles."

"Aww, I'm sorry." Faye said, sounding genuinely sorry.

Shelly nodded her head, also feeling sorry for Maria.

"That's fine, I didn't really know them too well." Maria replied. "What are your parents?"

"My dad is a wizard, but my mum is a witch. She knew my dad was a wizard though, and she was fine with it." Faye answered. "Shelly?"

"A witch and wizard." Shelly replied.

Dru made a noise from her corner.

"Something you want to say?" Maria asked, coolly.

"Nothing at all." Dru said. "It's just nice to know that at least some people have proper wizarding heritage."

Hermione had told Maria about these types of people; people who believed they were better than others because they are pureblood. Apparently, these were not very nice people. Maria was beginning to understand why.

"Do you have a problem with my family?" Maria asked, defensively.

"Oh, no." Dru smirked, then turned back to her window without another word.

Faye and Maria exchanged a look that clearly said, _who does she think she is? _However, the conversation of parents was distinguished, and instead Maria listened intently as Faye and Shelly told her all about the wizarding world, from the most popular wizard band to the detailed rules of Quidditch.

Hermione popped in halfway through the journey, pleased that Maria had made friends.

Faye, Shelly and Maria entertained themselves when the food trolley came by, pooling their money so they could buy every type of junk food to try, even if Faye and Shelly had both tried most of it already. They made a point of not offering any of it to Dru, who had not purchased anything from the trolley.

After hours of traveling on the Hogwarts Express, darkness soon stole the sky and the lights in the compartments came on. The three friends continuously gazed anxiously out of the window, waiting for a glimpse of Hogwarts. And soon, their glimpse came.

"Look!" Faye pointed.

Hogwarts many turrets and towers began to peek over the mountains. It was a beautiful, old castle shimmering in the lights from within.

"It is so beautiful." Maria sighed.

"My sister Hannah always told me that it was amazing." Shelly informed. "But I never imagined this."

"Oh, come on." Dru spoke from her corner, almost in a bored manner. "My mansion is bigger than this."

"So why don't you go back to your mansion and spare us the nuisance of having to deal with you all year." Maria said, coolly.

Dru quickly drew her wand.

"Want to run that by me again, Thompson?" Dru threatened, holding her wand straight at Maria.

Maria felt helpless. She could leap for her wand, but what was the point? She knew nothing that would help her defend herself.

"Maria, we've arrived-" Hermione entered the compartment. Her smile faded as a stern expression crossed her face.

Dru glared at Hermione.

"What's your name?" Hermione asked, strictly.

"Drucilla Delaney. My father is Demetrius Delaney, husband to Luciana Malfoy-Delaney, sister to Lucius Malfoy." Dru stated, proudly.

"You're Draco Malfoy's cousin?" Hermione asked, a look upon her face as though the thought revolted her.

"Yes. Oh, you must be Granger." Dru smirked at Maria. "Yes, my dear cousin has told me all about you."

Hermione glared at Dru. "If I ever see you point your wand at a fellow student again, you _will _receive detention. Do you understand me?"

"Who do you think you are?" Dru looked highly affronted.

"I am a Prefect." Hermione declared. "Therefore you will listen to me, or there will be consequences."

Hermione gave Dru one last stern look, smiled at Maria, Faye and Shelly, and left the compartment.

"Ha!" Maria laughed.

"What?" Dru asked, coldly. "My cousin is a Prefect as well. If this is the game you want to play, so be it."

And with that, she left the compartment.

"My sister is a Prefect." Shelly smiled proudly, as though Dru's threat didn't bother her at all.

"Well, don't I feel left out?" Faye laughed.

"Let's get going, I want to see everything!" Maria exclaimed.

Maria, Faye, and Shelly linked arms as they pursued Dru out of the compartment, without a worry or a care in sight.


	6. The Message in the Sorting

The Message in the Sorting

            The three girls tried to fight there way through the crowd of excited Hogwarts Students, only knowing which direction to be heading in by a loud, warm voice calling, "Firs' years! C'mon, firs' years over here!"

            The sight that met Maria's eyes when she emerged from the crowd was amazing. Standing before her was a gigantic man; she would have to guess ten feet at least. And she was not the only one amazed; Faye and Shelly seemed to be gaping at the enormous man as well. Suddenly, one of Harry's stories seemed to pop into Maria's head; a man rescued Harry from Knockturn Alley. Harry had mentioned this man a few times; a massive teacher at Hogwarts, almost twice the size of a normal man. His name was Hagrid.

            "Excuse me, but are you Hagrid?" Maria asked, her voiced raised so that he could hear her over the loud, thumping rain crashing down on them all.

            "Yeah, an' who migh' yeh be?" Hagrid smiled, kindly.

            "My name is Maria Thompson. I'm Hermione Granger's sister." Maria replied.

            "Ah, Hermione sen' me an owl abou' yeh." Hagrid said. "Good ter meet yeh. Yeh'll be takin' the boats out ter the school."

            "The boats?" Maria asked, a bit skeptically.

            "Yup. It's traditional." Hagrid began calling for first years again. "Firs' years, this way, hurry up!"

            Maria smiled and followed Faye and Shelly into an empty boat. The rain was beating down on their heads, but they didn't care; they just wanted to get to the school and have a good look around. They all seemed to be starving, too.

            A girl with straight, long black hair entered the same boat as Maria, but Maria was gradually getting colder and could not bring herself to saying hello, so instead she nodded welcomingly toward the girl. The girl smiled and returned the nod, then took a seat and awaited the moment when they could depart, along with the others.

"Are yeh all in?" Hagrid asked. "Great, let's move!"

The boats began to glide towards the school, and the rain pounded harder on the first years as the boat moved faster and faster.

Finally, after the long, agonizing journey across the lake, the boats reached the castle. It looked ten times larger close up, and Maria was very anxious to get inside.

Hagrid escorted them all to the enormous, oak door that led into the castle.

"Ev'ryone, this is Professor McGonagall." Hagrid introduced them all to a stern looking witch standing at the top of the flight of stone steps leading inside the castle. "She'll be takin' yeh ter the Sortin'."

Maria looked up at Professor McGonagall, apprehensively. She looked very cross indeed, and Maria did not want to be the one to upset her even more than she already appeared to be.

"It's Peeves again, Hagrid." McGonagall explained. "He knocked over all of the tables in Professor Trelawney's Tower. Broke several crystal balls and a few of her favorite tea cups."

"I s'pose Filch is angry?" Hagrid inquired.

"Furious. Ranting and raving about finally ridding the school of Peeves once and for all. Okay, Hagrid, I must take the first years to the Sorting. Thank you very much for bringing them." McGonagall said.

"Been a pleasure." Hagrid beamed. He walked past everyone, waving to Maria on his way and entering what looked like an enormous room that seemed to be holding the rest of the school.

"Now, welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall greeted. She began to get into the details of Hogwarts; how it was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff, how your house was your family, how the point system worked, and how they will now all follow her into the Great Hall to be sorted into their houses.

Faye looked terrified.

"Do I have to do magic?" She asked, trembling. "I haven't learnt anything of value yet!"

"Oh, no." Maria smiled, glad that she finally knew something the others didn't. "Hermione told me that it's only a wretched old hat that you put on your head and it tells you which house to go to."

Faye and Shelly looked extremely relieved, but said no more as they followed McGonagall into the Great Hall.

Maria felt like she was on display as all of the students stared at the first years. She caught a glimpse of Hermione giving her two thumbs up and waved timidly.

"Now, when I call your name, you will proceed towards the stool and place the Sorting Hat upon your head. Let's begin. Abbott, Shelly!"

Maria and Faye both hugged Shelly as she proceeded towards the stool. She placed the hat upon her head, and a few seconds later it shouted-

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Relieved, Shelly smiled as she climbed down the stool and towards her older sister, who was beaming with pride.

"Banton, Rabia!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Rabia flew off the stool and half-walked, half-ran towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Delaney, Drucilla!"

Dru strutted towards the stool, once again looking bored.

Maria glanced at Hermione, but saw that she was sharing an unpleasant look with a blond boy over at the Slytherin table, who was smirking at her. Maria distinctly saw him mouth, "Mudblood."

_This must be Malfoy, _Maria thought, glaring at him as well.

Dru approached the stool and picked the hat up. She placed it on top of her head, but looked ready to get up right away as though she planned for the hat to shout her name straight away. However, it didn't. The hat sat on Dru's head for at least a whole two minutes before it finally shouted-

"SLYTHERIN!"

Dru looked highly affronted as she took the hat off of her head, and she threw it down on the stool harder than necessary. However, she grinned as she approached the Slytherin table and her cousin, who pulled her into a tight hug.

Maria rolled her eyes and turned once more to the Sorting Hat. It was now sorting a boy named Raul Ebberforth, who was declared a Hufflepuff. Adriana Fairchild was also declared a Hufflepuff.

"Fox, Aiden!" McGonagall called.

A handsome boy stepped forward and advanced towards to hat. Maria gazed at him, before she realized she was staring. She quickly looked away.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Aiden smiled and headed towards the Gryffindor table, where Ron gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder and Harry shook hands with him.

A few more names were called before McGonagall reached-

"LaQuinta, Gabrielle!"

The girl with the long, black hair who had shared a boat with Maria, Faye and Shelly across the river glided smoothly towards the stool. In no time, the hat announced her a Gryffindor.

"Matthias, Faye!"

Faye crawled forwards, giving Maria one last smile. As she jammed the Sorting Hat onto her head, her expression changed to extremely nervous, but she kept her cool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Faye was proclaimed as the third Gryffindor of the evening. She beamed and ran towards the Gryffindor table, taking a seat opposite of Gabrielle and Aiden Fox.

Several more names were called, and as the crowd of first years thinned out, Maria became more and more nervous. Students were being sent out to the four houses one by one, until finally McGonagall got to the T's.

"Thompson, Maria!"

Maria smiled, endured one more of Hermione's encouraging waves, and proceeded towards the hat.

She sat on the stool and placed the hat carefully on her head.

"Hmm, strange, very strange." A voice said into her ear. The hat was speaking! "You seem to share the same- but no, there are differences. Many similarities, but few differences that help me determine where to put you. Both in one night- this will cause problems. I suppose I'd have to say GRYFFINDOR!"

Maria threw the hat off her head, very relieved. The hat had sounded strange, as though Maria's mind seemed familiar. But she pushed these thoughts out of her mind as Hermione squeezed her tightly. Harry, Ron and Ginny had hugged her as well.

Maria took a seat besides Faye.

"Congratulations!" Faye squealed.

"Yeah, congratulations." Maria turned to see who spoke, and saw Aiden staring straight at her. He was smiling, and his smile broadened as Maria returned it to him.

The chattering died down immediately as Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, stood to address the school.

"I wish to share only two words with you all right now. As the French say, bon appetite!"

The sea of faces all stared up at him.

"Okay, perhaps that was six words, but you all know where I was going with it. I meant the two words to be bon appetite, the other things were-"

"Albus, enjoy the feast." McGonagall prodded, taking his arm and pulling him gently into his seat.

"Ah, to right I will." Dumbledore smiled.

He stood once more. "Let the feast begin!"

Hundreds upon hundreds of dishes appeared before their eyes. The food all smelled delicious, and Maria was starving. She piled a little bit of everything onto her plate, as did Faye, Ron, and Harry a few seats down. Hermione looked at them all as if they were mad.

"How you eat all of that is beyond me-"

"Hermione?" Ron interrupted.

"Yes?"

"Shut up." Ron bit into a large chicken leg and Hermione went back to eating, huffily.

When the feast was over, Dumbledore stood up and once more addressed the school. "As you all are aware, there has once more been a change in the staff. We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but she seems to be running a little late-"

"I'm here!" A voice cried. A woman entered the Great Hall, her hair a bright purple color and her face young and excited. 

"Students please welcome Professor Tonks." Dumbledore smiled.

Harry, Ron and Hermione's mouths dropped open, but they soon recovered from the shock and applauded with the rest of the school, harder than most.

Maria recognized this woman as part of the group who was waiting for Hermione and her friends at Kings Cross station at the end of the previous year.

"Professor Tonks is an auror for the Ministry of Magic, but she has kindly agreed to substitute as our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher until a more permanent employee happens to come along." Dumbledore explained.

Tonks smiled and waved over to the Gryffindor table at Harry, Ron and Hermione. They all waved back.

"Now, onto further things," Dumbledore continued. "As you all should be reminded, the Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone. Magic is not permitted within the halls of Hogwarts, as our caretaker, Argus Filch, will be only too happy to remind you all at least five times a day. Quidditch tryouts will be held at the end of September; for all of you wishing to try out, please go to your Quidditch Captain for further details. I believe that's about it. I bid you all farewell, have a wonderful sleep."

And with that, he sat back down and joined into a conversation with Professor McGonagall and a squat looking wizard who could only be the Charms teacher, according to Hermione's descriptions.

Faye yawned. "Ready to go to sleep?"

"Definitely." Maria nodded.

"First years, please follow me." Ginny called. Hermione and Ron led Ginny, Colin (the new Gryffindor male prefect) and the rest of the first years through the passageways and tricky staircases of Hogwarts until they came to rest outside a portrait with a fat lady in a pink, silk dress, who immediately asked them for the password.

"Devil's Snare." Hermione stated.

The portrait swung open, and Hermione directed Maria and the other first years to their dormitories. Maria was so tired that she passed out straight away, along with the rest of her roommates.


	7. The Foul Professor Snape

The Foul Professor Snape

Maria awoke the next morning feeling refreshed and content. She looked over at Faye, who was staring at the ceiling with her eyes open.

"Good morning." Faye whispered, so as not to wake the others.

"Morning!" Maria replied.

"KLEENEX!" A girl with flaming red hair that could rival Ginny's bolted upright, a look of terror on her face.

"What's wrong?" Faye asked, alarmed.

"Oh." The girl seemed to realize she was dreaming. "Nothing, nothing, just a dream. I'm kind of scared of Kleenex.

She blushed sheepishly.

Maria and Faye burst out laughing. The girl's scream and the laughter ringing through the dormitory caused the other two girls to awake.

"S'time to get up already?" Asked a very pretty looking black girl.

Maria recognized the last girl. She was once again the girl who joined Faye and herself on the boat to cross the lake; because of the Sorting Hat, Maria could now identify her as Gabrielle LaQuinta.

"So, I guess we didn't really have time to introduce ourselves last night, did we?" The red-haired girl asked, recovering from the scare of the frightening Kleenexes.

"I was so pooped!" Faye exclaimed.

"Pooped?" the red-haired girl asked.

"It means tired." Now it was Faye's turn to look sheepish.

"Well, my name is Maria Thompson."

"And I'm Faye Matthias."

"My name is Jacie Verrill." The redheaded girl declared.

"And I'm Madison Bedros." The black girl said.

All four of the girls looked over at Gabrielle. She was quietly dressing in her school robes, and acting as though she had not been listening to the conversation at all.

"What about you?" Madison asked her.

"Pardon?" Gabrielle said, as though she was coming out of a trance. Perhaps she wasn't listening.

"What's your name?" Jacie asked, friendly.

"Oh, my name is Gabrielle LaQuinta."

Maria and Faye stared at her. They could not understand how someone's hair could look so straight and shiny after just waking up.

"Well, now that introductions are over, shall we all head down to breakfast? I'm starving." Jacie proposed.

"Yes, let's do that." Madison replied in a very fake, formal voice.

Everyone giggled except for Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle, are you coming?" Maria asked.

"No, no, you go ahead." Gabrielle said dreamily.

"Well, she's a bit, uh, lightheaded." Jacie commented.

"She does seem odd, doesn't she?" Madison replied.

"Did you see her eyes?" Faye observed. "Almost yellow, like a cat."

"Oh, I didn't see!" Jacie cried, making to go back to the dormitory and see Gabrielle's eyes.

"Jacie!" Madison said, giggling.

"What are you gonna say?" Maria asked. "Um, Gabrielle, can I see your weird eyes?"

Faye started laughing.

Jacie's face fell. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Oh well, I'll see them at breakfast."

Maria, Faye, Jacie and Madison entered the Great Hall together and found seats at the Gryffindor Table.

"Morning, sis!" Hermione called, a few seats along the bench.

"Hey!" Maria replied, smiling.

Professor McGonagall began circling the Hall, providing students with their timetable.

"First years!" called Ron, passing their timetables to them.

"Charms and Transfiguration this morning, then Potions after lunch." Madison observed.

Maria made a disgusted noise. "I heard Professor Snape was a really unfair, really mean teacher."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard too." Jacie stated.

"And he favors his house." Faye said.

"Great, so little miss Drucilla will get extra special treatment while we get to be the dogs." Maria sulked.

She glanced over at the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy and his younger cousin Dru were sitting together, and for once, Malfoy was not drawing attention to himself. He seemed to be having a serious conversation with Dru. Dru had an annoyed expression on her face, but Malfoy's was dead serious.

"Hey, guys!" A voice said. "Maria?"

Maria tore her eyes away from Dru and Malfoy's conversation, and instead focused on the person speaking to her.

Shelly stood there, smiling broadly.

"Hey, Shelly!" Maria smiled. "What have you got first?"

"Charms with Flitwick." Shelly said.

"Oh, us too!" Faye declared. "Cool!"

"Yeah." Shelly agreed. "I'm going to go finish breakfast at my table then we can all head up to Charms together."

"Sounds great." Jacie said. "Oh, hello, I'm Jacie."

Shelly laughed. "My name is Shelly."

"And I'm Madison!" Madison piped up from the corner.

Shelly grinned, said hello to Madison and a final farewell to everyone else, and then took off for her table.

"It's too bad she's in Hufflepuff." Faye said.

"Yeah, she's cool." Maria agreed. She glanced over at the Slytherin table once more, and to her surprise Dru and Malfoy disappeared.

            Once the girls finished eating breakfast, they met up with Shelly and headed towards Charms.

            "Did you guys even see Gabrielle during breakfast?" Jacie asked as the class filed into the Charms classroom.

            "Hmm, come to think about it, I didn't see her." Faye said. "That's odd."

            Gabrielle turned up in the class with one second to spare before she would have been declared tardy. Her robes were strangely black; that was the color of the Hogwarts robes, but Gabrielle's black robes stood out rather darker than all the others, and they made her hair look almost gray. She was wearing a lot of black makeup, which the girls all thought was her way to show off, since she was only eleven and already wearing more makeup than most of the seventh years at Hogwarts. Her cat-like, yellow eyes stood out vibrantly from her black appearance.

"Miss LaQuinta, please take a seat, we're about to begin." Professor Flitwick ordered kindly.

The only free seat was next to Maria, so Gabrielle took it and began unloading her quill and a fresh piece of parchment.

Charms was an interesting class; Maria could not believe how much more there was to magic than it showed in the movies. Transfiguration was more difficult than Charms, as Maria realized that it would take years before she could begin to transfigure larger objects. By the time lunch rolled around, the girls were starving and tired by the two intricate lessons.

Gabrielle was seen at lunch. Maria, Faye, Jacie and Madison all watched her as she ate her lunch by herself at the end of the table.

"Why doesn't she come and sit with us?" Jacie asked, looking almost insulted.

"Maybe we're not good enough for her." Madison said with a trace of sarcasm in her voice.

            "Come on, we'd better get going to Potions." Maria interrupted. "I expect it's best if we're not late for Snape's lesson."

            "Agreed." Faye nodded.

So, the girls took off for Potions, leaving Gabrielle in her stupor.

They entered into the dungeon of Snape's classroom, looking disgusted.

"What a sad looking classroom." Madison observed.

"Yeah." Agreed Jacie. "It almost makes me depressed."

"Might I ask that you not lurk in the doorway and make rude comments about my classroom?" Came Snape's voice from the shadows.

"Sorry, sir." Maria apologized.

"Take your seats." Snape ordered. He walked to the front of the classroom and began writing notes on the chalkboard. The girls took seats as far away from Snape as possible.

Once everyone had filed into the classroom, Snape began speaking. He made a short speech about how he would not accept and silliness in his class, and how Potions was a very amazing class that few seemed to realize.

"Now, take out your cauldron and we shall begin. This will not be on your exams, for it is far beyond your level, but I shall still ask what the key ingredient for a Polyjuice Potion. So, is everyone useless or can anyone tell me the answer?"

Maria remembered a conversation that she had with Hermione about this potion; it was used to make the drinker transform into a person. Hermione had illegal created this potion in only her second year, much to Maria's astonishment. So, Maria raised her hand.

Snape raised an eyebrow at her.

"Two important ingredients are powdered horn of Bicorn and Shredded skin of Boomslang, but the key ingredient would be a bit of something from the person who you want to transform into." Maria said carefully, remembering exactly what Hermione had told her and being grateful that she had such a brilliant sister.

"What is your name?" Snape demanded.

"Maria Thompson, sir." Maria replied.

Snape smirked. "Ah, you must be Miss Granger's younger sister."

"How did you-"

"We teachers have our ways. If you are as bad of a know-it-all as Miss Granger is, than I expect we'll have a very interesting year, won't we?" Snape sneered.

"Excuse me?" Maria asked, looking affronted. Maria was not exactly aware of the rules at Hogwarts; when she went to the tiny school that her orphanage offered, respect towards teachers was very lenient. "My sister is very smart, and I am very proud to say that I am now related towards her. You shouldn't be badmouthing her, _sir._" She said with a hint of sarcasm on that last word.

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape snapped, looking murderous. "You have a worse mouth than she does, Miss Thompson, and if I don't see improvement than next time the consequences will be far worse than an insignificant ten points!"

Maria glared at him.

"Everyone, begin working on the potion written up on the board, _now_!" Snape barked.

"Oh, my gosh." Faye said, openmouthed. "You can't speak like that to a Hogwarts teacher!"

"He was badmouthing my sister!" Maria argued. "I'm not going to just let him."

"You have some guts, I'll tell you that." Jacie praised.

"Five points from Gryffindor for talking, Miss Thompson." Snape sneered.

Luckily, he turned at that precise moment, so he did not see the obscene hand gesture that Maria had given him.


	8. The Wall of Snakes

**Hello! Thank you to the people who review my chapters, it's greatly appreciated! Sorry it took so long to post this chapter, I was in Quebec for a while without computer access. I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

The Wall of Snakes

Snape's dislike for Maria seemed to grow over the next couple of weeks; Snape seemed to view Maria in the same light as her sister, and he loathed Hermione so much that it was only natural that he loathes Maria as well.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said one evening while Maria was bitterly completing an essay that Snape had set only her, because her Juvenile Truth Potion (a much less powerful truth potion than Veritaserum that is only good for one question) had not turned the precise shade of green that was expected. However, Maria believed that she had it easier than Harry, who was obviously the student most loathed by Snape.

"Last year, he actually vanished my potions if they weren't exact." Harry explained. "I think Dumbledore spoke with him this year, though, because he hasn't given me no marks yet."

"At least he doesn't vanish my potions," Maria said. "Yet." She added, bitterly.

She definitely enjoyed sitting around the warm fireplace during the late nights with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, cursing Snape and inventing creative revenge schemes, like concocting a potion that causes the drinker to become naked, and giving the potion to Snape during the Halloween Feast.

"I'm not sure I'd want to see that." Ron managed to say after a fit of laughter, trying to not envision a naked Snape.

Hermione looked rather stern; as much as she disliked Professor Snape, she still believed that as a prefect's neither she nor Ron should be insulting a Hogwarts professor. "I'm tired, I think I'm going to go to sleep."

"Yeah, me too." Ron agreed. "All of Binn's work is making me drowsy. Harry?" Ron asked, indicating their dormitories.

"Yes, I think I'll come too. Goodnight, Maria." Harry said politely.

Everyone else said their goodnights to her before disappearing into their dormitories, leaving Maria alone in the deserted Gryffindor Tower. She too was extremely drowsy; her focus kept coming and leaving, and she was having difficult concentrating on her essay. However, she knew she had to get it done; otherwise, the consequences would be severe.

"Still working?" A voice asked.

Startled, Maria looked up to see a boy framed in the doorway to the boys' dormitories. "Aiden!"

"Hey," Aiden smiled. "Shouldn't you get some sleep?"

"I have to finish this stupid essay for Snape." Maria answered, resentfully. All of a sudden, her expression became suspicious as she asked, "What are _you _doing?"

"Can't sleep." Aiden answered, coolly. He plopped himself down on the couch nearest to the fireplace and gazed into the dancing flames.

Maria returned to her essay. _What did I do wrong? _She asked herself. _Perhaps the spine of lionfish was not fresh enough, or_-

"Dashing through the snow, on a one horse open sleigh," Aiden sang.

"Do you mind-" Maria began.

"Over the fields we go, laughing all the way _ha ha ha!_"

"Aiden!" Maria exclaimed. "I'm trying to work!"

"Don't you love Christmas?" Aiden asked. He sighed. "Best time of the year if you ask me."

Maria briefly reminisced about her past Christmas and how amazing it had been…

"Yeah." She agreed. "But quiet down a little, I need to finish this."

"Sure thing-"

_CRASH!_

A sudden crash on the far side of the common room caused Maria to shriek and Aiden to give a small jump. 

"What was that?" Maria whispered.

"I'm not sure. Let me check it out." Aiden got up from where he was sitting and slowly walked over to the other side of the room; crouching behind a comfy arm chair was a small creature, with bat-like ears and eyes the size of tennis balls, though Maria could not see them because he was cowering behind the chair, both hands covering his face.

"Bad Dobby, bad Dobby," he repeated continuously.

"Who's Dobby?" Maria asked.

The creature gave a big start and stared up at her with those wide, bright eyes. "I is Dobby, miss. Dobby the house-elf."

"Oh." Maria said. "Hello, Dobby. What are you doing in the common room?"

Dobby let out a loud cry and began to bang his head against the scarlet armchair.

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked, alarmed.

"Dobby is not knowing why he is here!" Dobby cried. "Dobby is in the kitchens preparing for tomorrow's breakfast, and then Dobby is here. Dobby isn't knowing where here even is!"

"You're in the Gryffindor common room!" Aiden explained. "And you're fine!"

"Oh, I've heard of you!" Maria suddenly said, a light clicking on in her brain. "You're Harry's friend!"

"You is knowing Harry Potter?" Dobby asked, his eyes widening. "Harry Potter is thinking of Dobby as a _friend_? Dobby is honored, miss!"

"I'm Hermione's sister." Maria said, kindly.

"Miss's sister is very kind to Dobby." Dobby continued. "Though Miss's sister should not visit the kitchens, the other house-elves do not like her very much."

"Because of _spew_?" Maria teased.

"Oh, no miss." Dobby corrected. "SPEW."

Aiden laughed. "What's that?"

"The Society for the Protection of Elfish Welfare of something like that." Maria rolled her eyes. "Hermione is obsessed with freeing the house-elves."

Dobby's eyes widened. "Dobby must return to the kitchens! But Dobby is confused. Dobby feels lightheaded. Dobby is not knowing where the kitchens are."

"I'm not quite sure either-" Maria began.

"I know where they are." Aiden said. "I'll take you."

Maria glared at Aiden, then said, "_We'll _take you."

"Miss and Sir are too nice to Dobby!" Dobby began to cry. "But Miss and Sir should not be caught-"

"Well, technically you're free, aren't you Dobby?" Maria asked. "So you can use your magic and perform some sort of Invisibility spell, can't you?"

"Miss is very smart!" Dobby gushed. He snapped his extremely long fingers and Aiden disappeared. Once Maria looked down at herself, she realized her body had disappeared as well.

Dobby climbed through the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, followed by Maria and Aiden. Aiden lead them down to the kitchens, and Dobby was very grateful.

"What can Dobby do for Miss and Sir?" Dobby cried.

"Oh, nothing-" Maria blushed.

"Dobby will get you food for you journey back!"

"Dobby, it's only a few floors-" Maria began, but Dobby had vanished into the kitchens and returned a few moments later followed by three other house-elves, all carrying plates of sweets and pies for the two Gryffindor's.

"Wow, thanks Dobby!" Aiden cried, stuffing the pies and sweets into his pockets.

"Dobby is very grateful, and will visit Sir and Miss in the Gryffindor common room if they don't mind." Dobby asked.

"Oh, of course," Maria nodded. "Anytime."

So, Maria and Aiden said their farewells and headed back to the common room. However, halfway through their silent journey, the invisibility spell that Dobby had performed began to wear off.

"Oh, crap!" Aiden cursed.

"Filch!" Maria hissed. "He could be along any moment-"   

As though someone had been reading her mind, Mrs Norris appeared at their feet.

"We have to run!" Maria whispered.

"Just let me kick it-" Aiden said, glaring menacingly at Mrs Norris.

"NOW!" Maria screamed. Together, they took off down the hall and as far away from Mrs Norris as possible. They continued to run until they reached a large, polished oak door. Aiden pulled it open and hurried inside, Maria in his wake. They closed the door quietly and noticed that the room was a tiny broom cupboard.

"Wonderful." Aiden said. "I couldn't sleep so instead I embark on a crazy adventure. Brilliant."  

Maria giggled.

"What?" Aiden asked.

"Nothing." Maria replied quickly.

They sat in silence inside the small broom cupboard for quite some time.

"Filch must be gone-" Maria started.

"Shh!" Aiden hissed. He heard two voices, and Maria began to hear them too.

"He said it was just over here-" The first voice said. It sounded like a slick, older boy.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this." The second voice said. This one was a younger girl. "I mean, right under the nose of Dum-"

"Shut up!" The first voice whispered, forebodingly. "Do you like living, Dru?"

Maria's eyes widened. She suddenly realized who the two voices were: Dru and Draco Malfoy.

"Of course I do." Dru replied, frightened.

"Then shut up and just do as he says." Malfoy ordered.

"There's the line!" Dru cried.

Much to Aiden's dismay, Maria gently opened the door so she could see through a small crack. She saw Dru and Malfoy, both in their nightgowns. And then she saw a thick, green line lining the floor in front of the two Slytherin's. This line seemed to be encircling a large portion of the north side of the castle.

"Now we wait." Malfoy said.

Suddenly, a hushed, cold voice drawled, "_Imperius_!" The voice did not seem to be coming from within the castle, and yet Maria heard it's menacing tone so clearly it was almost as though the owner of the voice was standing right next to her.

Malfoy became stiff and rigid for not even a second before he returned to normal. Dru looked horrified. Malfoy retrieved his wand from inside his robes and cried, "_Partitius_!" His voice was deep and so unlike him._ He must be under the Imperius curse, _Maria thought. Immediately, long, slithering objects that looked like snakes rose up from the green line. Maria realized that they actually were snakes. The snakes grew larger and larger, and so many formed from the line that they created a high, towering wall of snakes, completely blocking off the north side of the castle.

Once more, Malfoy became stiff for less than a second before he was back to normal. Obviously, the Imperius curse had been lifted. Malfoy collapsed to the ground, appearing to have fainted.

"I guess that's why I'm here." Dru said to herself. She muttered a charm that lifted Malfoy into the air, then carefully made her way back to the Slytherin common room.

Maria was too preoccupied watching Dru and Malfoy disappear from sight that she did not even notice what the wall of snakes were doing. She continued to gaze in the direction of the Slytherin common room until Aiden jabbed her hard in the ribs.

"_What_?" She asked, annoyed. She glanced over at him and saw that his eyes were wide open; his jaw was dropped and he looked horrified. Maria was just about to ask him what was wrong when she finally turned and glimpsed the wall of snakes. Her face immediately took on the same expression as Aiden's. There appeared to be over a thousand huge snakes, and each snake was emitting puffs of green clouds.

"It's poison!" Maria cried. "We need to go!"

"No!" Aiden said. "The only way out is past the poisonous gas, and I doubt we will be able to make it though without serious consequences."

"Then what can we-" Maria began. But a drowsy, sick feeling took over her. The poisonous gas seemed to be slowly reaching them, and she felt she could no longer move, let alone try to escape. Aiden began to feel the same way, but he was smart enough to pull the door closed and put his arm tightly around Maria, pulling her as far back into the broom cupboard as they could go. Then, with nothing left to do but wait, they both fell unconscious.

**Did you like? If you did, review! If you didn't, review anyways! I'm always open for constructive criticism! Thank you!**


	9. Detention with Severus Snape

**Chapter nine is posted! Yay! **

Detention with Severus Snape

            "Albus, what can it be?" A distant voice asked.

            "I know as much as you do, Minerva." Dumbledore answered.

"But that wall of snakes! How could it have possibly…" McGonagall's voice trailed off. "No student in Hogwarts is powerful enough to create that wall, Albus. This is the work of dark wizards!"

"I think it may be the work of Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore answered, calmly.

"No!" McGonagall disagreed. "It is impossible for him to even enter the castle! All of the extra enchantments that you added to the castle since Harry Potter's arrival, not to mention the ancient ones that have guarded it for centuries-"

"I shall say it once more, I know as much as you do. For now we must let Miss Thompson and Mr Fox rest."

Maria could feel Dumbledore's penetrating stare on the back of her head, but her eyes remained shut tight.

"Ah, Mr Fox, awake already." Dumbledore smiled. Despite herself, Maria flipped over and saw Aiden pushing himself to sit upright on his bed. "This is convenient. I was off to my office to greet the Minister for Magic, who seems to have heard of this unfortunate mishaps…"

Aiden allowed Dumbledore to trail off and become lost in his thoughts for a few moments before he interjected. "Uh, Professor Dumbledore, what happened?"

Dumbledore looked startled at his presence, as though seeing him for the first time. Then he smiled warily, the lines on his face becoming more apparent as the candles on the wall flickered across his old looking face. "I was afraid of this."

"Afraid of what, headmaster?" Maria asked, kindly. Her head was groggy, and her memory was faulty.

Dumbledore disregarded her question. Instead, he asked, "Miss Thompson, please recount in great detail the last thing that you remember."

Maria racked her brain. "I was in the Gryffindor common room. I was working on an essay that Snape-"

"_Professor _Snape." Dumbledore corrected.

Maria blushed, sheepishly. "Yes, an essay that Professor Snape set me. It was really late; everyone else had already gone to bed. And then- and then Aiden came downstairs. He said he couldn't sleep."

"And then…" Dumbledore asked, expectantly.

"That's it." Maria finished, lamely. "That's all I can remember."

"Mr Fox, can you recount anything after that?"

Aiden shrugged. "That's about all I can remember, too."

"I see." Dumbledore said. He surveyed them through his half-moon spectacles for a few more moments until he began to explain. "For some reason, you two were out of bed. It was fortunate I was up as well. I was strolling along the corridor, heading to the kitchen for a nice hot cocoa. As I can recall, Dobby the house-elf makes excellent hot cocoa-"

_Dobby the house-elf_, Maria thought. _I've heard of him. But it feels as though there's something more to do with him…_

"Well, I was heading for the north side of the castle when I noticed a green haze of smoke. It was actually poisonous gas, being discharged by a wall of enormous snakes. Luckily I spotted the two of you across corridor. It looked as though the poison had forced the door to the Room of Requirement open-"

"The Room of Requirement?" Maria enquired.

"That is what the name of the small broom cupboard in which you two sheltered yourselves in is called."

Aiden looked revolted at the thought of being in a broom cupboard with Maria. "I don't remember a broom cupboard!" he cried, indignantly.

"Yes, of course." Dumbledore said, continuing with his story. "I used a summoning charm to call you two over as quick as possible; it was the only way I could save you. However, you had to pass through the poison and I wasn't sure if you'd make it. But Madam Pomfrey says you're going to be just fine." He smiled.

"Won't the poison be spreading through the school?" Maria asked, looking horrified.

"Oh no, for some reason it only seems to be surrounding the wall of snakes. This can be nothing good. No, nothing good at all…" Dumbledore once again trailed off. After a few moments he stood up abruptly. "I must get going, Cornelius will be waiting for me in my office. Madam Pomfrey will tend to you." With one last grieved smile, Dumbledore swept out of the room.

After Madam Pomfrey had forced a bottle of unlabeled antidote down both of their throats and left the room huffily muttering about how unsafe Hogwarts was becoming, Maria glanced over at Aiden. He looked confused.

"I don't get it." He said. "I just can't remember anything. And Dumbledore said that name- Dobby- and it sounded really familiar. But I haven't heard it before. At least, I don't think I have."

"I'm as lost as you." Maria nodded. "What is up with this wall of snakes? And Dumbledore said it could be You-Know-Who behind it all. You-Know-Who can't be in the castle, can he?"

"No, I don't reckon he can." Aiden commented. "Like Dumbledore said, there's all sorts of enchantments around the castle, forbidding Dark Arts to occur."

"Could it have been a Death Eater-"

"I don't reckon so." Aiden said. "That seems like a _very _powerful spell. I think only Voldemort-"

Maria gasped. "What is wrong with you?" she hissed. "Don't say the name!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist." Aiden said, carelessly. "Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore say it, so you should learn to, too."

Maria rolled her eyes. She was extremely tired; most of the effect from the poison was wearing off, thanks to Madam Pomfrey's antidotes, but she still felt drowsy and sick. She rolled over and faced the opposite direction of Aiden, then immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, Maria had several visitors. Madam Pomfrey refused to release either one of them, insisting that they need a good day's rest in the hospital wing. However, this did not refrain Hermione, Harry, Ron, Faye, Jacie, and Madison from visiting her throughout the day. Hermione, Harry and Ron seemed much quieter than usual after Maria told her the exact account of what had happened. She could almost see the wheel's turning in their brains, trying to fit the pieces together. But by the time they had left, Maria could tell that they were no nearer to solving this mystery than she was. Dumbledore had sealed off the entire north side of the castle; Transfiguration and Trelawney's Divination classes had to be relocated to the south side of the castle, much to Trelawney's dismay. Maria had heard her complaining about how her room was where she could See the best, and it gave off a magical, foreseeing aura that helped the students to study the subject better. He had also forbidden anyone from going near it, if they did not want to die a most horrible death.

Aiden also had many visitors; several first-year Ravenclaw girls and even a couple of second-year Hufflepuff girls had come to visit him. Maria glared over at all of them; she just couldn't figure Aiden out. At times he seemed so mysterious, but at other times he could be an obnoxious downright pain in the butt. Maria could not stand the irritating giggles of the girls, so she rolled around, clamped a pillow over her ear as tight as she could and drifted off to sleep.

Once they were released from the hospital wing, classes had already been in progress. Maria interrupted a Potions lesson with her return.

"Sorry sir, I was in the hospital-"

"Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape smirked nastily, completely disregarding Maria's valid excuse for her tardiness. "Where is my essay?"

Maria smacked her fist to her forehead. She had completely forgotten the essay!

"Well, you see sir, I was doing the essay when-"

"Another ten points and a detention, Miss Thompson. Further neglect of homework in this class will earn you a month's worth of detention and a failing grade, do you understand?"

Maria glared at Snape, loathing him equally as much as he loathed her. "Yes, _sir._" She replied, holding her tongue.

The rest of Potions went by miserably. Maria ruined her potion, but managed to salvage a little bit of it by adding a pinch of powdered newt spine; at least it was now a darker blue compared to the baby blue it was before.

Snape ordered Maria to stay after class to arrange her detention. She was to clean each jar on the shelves of Snape's office by hand, inside and out.

"_Urgh_!" Ron cried, disgusted. "Do you have any idea how disgusting those jars are? He has eyes and animal parts and things in them-"

Maria looked revolted, causing Ron to shut up immediately. 

By the time eight o' clock rolled around, it was time for Maria to say goodbye to her friends and head down to Snape's office, alone. She walked sullenly through the corridors, going as slow as possible as though it would help make the evening disappear quicker. Snape's office was right off of the north side of the castle; however, it was more considered to be in the middle, because his classes were not relocated due to the wall of snakes. Maria caught a glimpse of the green haze under the temporary wall that Dumbledore had used to seal off the north side of the castle.

"What are _you _doing, Thompson?" a voice spat.

Maria veered around and spotted Dru emerging from the dungeons, which is where the Slytherin common room is.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Delaney." Maria replied, coldly. But she couldn't help thinking about something. Dru's presence was strange to Maria; she felt as though she had seen her somewhere before. Obviously she had, since they had lessons together. However, it wasn't lessons she was referring to; her memory tried to trigger some sort of explanation, but nothing came.

"Where were you last night?" Maria asked.

Dru's eyes opened wide; she looked horrified at the question, but covered up her shock quickly. "And _I _don't think that is any of _your _business." And with that, Dru turned on her heel and left in the direction she was headed in before.

Maria glared at her before realizing that she had a detention. She hurriedly rushed down the stone steps and across a long corridor until she reached a tall oak door, labeled _Professor Severus Snape. _With complete bitterness, she knocked and then entered without waiting for a response.

Snape was sitting at his desk. "You're late. Five points from Gryffindor."

Maria glared at him, unable to speak through gritted teeth. _Oh, how I would just love to…_

"Now, you are from a muggle family, are you not?" Snape enquired.

"Yes." Maria replied, sharply.

"Good, so you are aware how to clean the muggle way. Here," (Snape indicated a bunch of cleaning supplies) "are the muggle's methods of cleaning. Get to work."

Maria was so angry that the first jar she cleaned broke, causing Snape to take another five points. She continued to clean the jars, trying to withhold her anger, until something caught her eye. She glanced over at Snape, who was lazily marking essays and looking as though he marked each one with a failing grade.

"Abysmal idiots." He muttered under his breath. But right behind his head, standing six feet tall was a snake. By the looks of it, it was one of the snakes from the wall closing off the north side of the tower, but this one looked as though it could be a baby.

"Is my detention beginning to have an effect on you?" Snape asked Thompson, grinning nastily at the look of revolt on her face as she stared at him. 

"Sir, it's-" she began to point, but Snape hushed her.

"Get back to work, you still have several jars to finish. Do not interrupt me. I, unlike you, am busy with important work." Snape said.

Maria stared at the huge snake hovering over Snape. It was about to strike, she could tell by its poise and by the glare in its eye.

Maria stood up from where she was crouching on the floor. She withdrew her wand and pointed it straight at the snake. However, Snape was under the impression that she was aiming it at him.

"What are you doing, you silly girl!" Snape cried, shrilly. He reached for his wand.

"_Destrium_!" Maria cried. Red sparks shout out from Maria's wand, heading straight for the snake. She meant it to shrivel up and disappear, but the spell did not seem to be powerful enough. The snake was still hit by the spell, though, and it got sent backwards a few feet, which was enough to make it leave Snape alone.

However, the snake was angry. It glared at Maria through its cold eyes, ready to strike her next. Instead, it spit out the same green poisonous gas that surrounds the north side of the castle directly at her. The next thing she knew, she had fallen unconscious onto the cold, stone floor of Professor Snape's office.

**Thank you so much for reading it! I really hope you enjoyed, my purpose is to serve my audience and make sure they're happy! So, if you're happy (or angry, miserable, disgusted with the story) then review!!! The little button in the bottom, left handed corner….**


	10. The Hospital Wing

The Hospital Wing

            Maria once again found herself awaking in the dark hospital wing. It appeared to be night, and the whole room was silent. She turned over to see if there was anyone in the room, but it was completely deserted accept for the bed beside Maria's. She peered cautiously over her own blankets and gasped. Dru Delaney was lying in the bed next to hers, her eyes wide open and fearful. She involuntarily twitched and looked as though she had just seen a ghost.

            Maria hoisted herself up with much difficulty; once again she felt groggy and sick, but this time she did not have a faulty memory.

"What are _you _doing here?" Maria asked.

Dru remained silent.

"Are you okay?" Maria began to sound slightly worried.

Dru did not move.

"Do you want me to get Madam Pomfrey?"

She shook her head.

"Do you need anything?"

She shook her head once more.

Maria rolled her eyes; if she was going to be stubborn and not ask for help, then Maria wasn't going to push the situation. She pulled her blankets up to her chin and almost immediately drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, Dru was nowhere to be found. Maria almost believed that she had dreamed the whole occurrence, until she saw Madam Pomfrey's clipboard with Dru's name written on it along with yesterday's date.

"Ah, good morning Miss Thompson." Dumbledore entered the hospital wing, smiling grimly and taking a seat next to Maria.

"Good morning, sir." Maria greeted. She then remembered. "Sir! There was one of those snakes in the castle! Not on the north side, but in Snape's office-"

"Yes, I am fully aware that a snake has left its wall." Dumbledore said, ignoring her disrespect towards Professor Snape. "And if it wasn't for you, then Professor Snape could have been badly poisoned. You are extremely lucky that you received immediate care and you were only touched by a very minimal amount of the poisonous gas."

"I saved Sn- Professor Snape?" Maria asked, wide-eyed.

"Yes, you did." Dumbledore surveyed Maria through his half-moon spectacles. "Professor Snape is now in your debt, but I ask that you do not go around the school bragging about your triumph, as honorable and noble as it was."

Maria nodded. "Sir, if one snake can get out, then can't several others as well?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose they can. Which is why Professor Tonks will be teaching her classes to defend themselves against these snakes. Most students will only be able to dispose of one or two if the event that they travel throughout the school occurs, but I highly doubt that more then a few will leave the wall anyways."

"Professor, can't you destroy the wall?" Maria asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm afraid I can't." Dumbledore replied, confirming her fears. "It is a very powerful spell that created that wall of snakes, and only the creator can abolish it. I am working very hard on finding something that just may allow me to destroy it, but until then I'm afraid it remains. If it puts any of the students in any grave danger, then I'm afraid the school will have to be closed."

Dumbledore gave one last grim smile to Maria before exiting the hospital wing, leaving Maria to stew in her thoughts.

That evening (after telling Madam Pomfrey several times that she was perfectly fine), Maria was released from the hospital wing. She spent the night with Hermione, Harry and Ron, throwing around possible ideas for what was happening at Hogwarts.

"So Dru was in the hospital wing last night?" Hermione asked, stroking Crookshanks.

"Yes." Maria nodded. "And she looked terrified. I couldn't tell if she was in pain or if she was just really scared about something."

"That's odd." Harry said. "Especially since she was gone this morning. We saw her at breakfast."

Ron sniggered.

"What?" Hermione shot at him.

"Snape is in debt to Maria." Ron said, indicating Maria sitting on the hearthrug in front of the fireplace. "Does this mean he waits on her hand and foot until he repays her?"

Harry laughed, while Hermione glared at him. "Don't you think, Ron? Remember when Snape was in debt to Harry's dad? He still loathed him, even if he was in debt. He just made sure Harry was safe as a favor to James. I suppose he thought it would erase the debt; James saves Snape and Snape saves Harry."

"So Snape has to save me or someone close to me in order for this to all be over?" Maria asked, looking skeptical. "Good luck with that."

"I'm not sure," Hermione said. "But I think that Snape is definitely going to be nicer to you now."

"And all of you." Maria said. "I'm going to make sure of that."

"He's still a Hogwarts professor!" Hermione exclaimed. "So be sure to hold your tongue!"

Ron sniggered again, causing Hermione to glare at him.

"Well, Hermione, you and me both know it's rather difficult to hold your tongue when Snape is concerned." Ron said.

"Ron, can I talk to you for a second?" Hermione asked him, sternly.

Harry looked at Ron, giving him a smile that clearly said, _Ha ha you're in trouble. Glad it's not me._

"I'll see you soon, mate." Harry said, clapping his hand on Ron's back and saying goodnight to everyone.

"I think I'll go up to bed, too." Maria said quickly, not wanting to witness the argument that she was sure would soon break out.

Maria half-walked, half-run up to her dormitory. Faye was sleeping soundly in her bed, along with everyone else. Maria changed into her dressing gown and slid into bed, thinking about the day's occurrences. _What could all of this mean? _Then she suddenly realized that she had left her Transfiguration homework in the common room. Cursing herself for her bad memory, she threw her feet over her bed and hoisted herself up. Slowly so that she would not wake the others, she walked across the dormitory and down the stone steps towards the common room.

Her jaw dropped open. Standing there, in the middle of the Gryffindor common room was Hermione and Ron kissing. Actually, they weren't standing. They were together on the couch, Ron on top of Hermione. _Thank god they were fully dressed. _Maria thought. They were kissing passionately, running their hands through each other's hair. Maria quickly left back to her dormitory, leaving her homework abandoned on the table beside Ron and Hermione.

I'm sorry I know it's a short chapter! Next one will be longer I promise! If you want a next one, then review please!


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